unovsusosWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: uno is a num, usos is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“uno” is a num and “usos” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#77
“uno” frequency rank
#4,562
“usos” frequency rank
4639
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature uno usos
Definition La cantidad de una cosa solitaria (a saber, sin otros). Forma del plural de uso.

Where the eye mixes uno and usos

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch
uno
4 ch
usos

Visual trap between uno and usos

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: uno is [ˈuno] while usos is [ˈusos]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (num vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4639, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

uno is recorded at frequency rank #77, classified as anum, pronounced [ˈuno]. usos is at rank #4,562, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈusos].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 4639, this pair ranks #315,602 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of uno vs usos

Shared letters: ou. Private to "uno": n. Private to "usos": s.

"uno" · 3 letters · shape VCV  ·  "usos" · 4 letters · shape VCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • usossuos · uoss · usoss · usso · ussos

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "uno" and "usos" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "uno" is a num and "usos" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "uno" or "usos" show up more?
"uno" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #77 in our Spanish list, against #4,562 for "usos". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "uno" and "usos" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "uno" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "usos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #315,602 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "uno" and "usos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "upon vs usos". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #315,602 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list